Robots made in Hackney, Camden and Wandsworth are changing our future. There are a growing number of local AI businesses that are starting up and attracting a lot of interest and investment with their exciting and world beating technology. It is worth looking at a few of the companies that have been attracting attention and yes, they are in Hackney, Camden and Wandsworth.

A business called Automata which is based in Hackney was incorporated in January 2015 and has started producing high quality manufacturing technology products. They estimate that “less than 10% of automatable tasks in manufacturing are automated” (Source: Automata) so there is a huge market to go for. Their main product is called ‘Eva’ and you can see in the video below how versatile Eva can be. They are believed to have raised over £1m of funding combined with grants of approximately £240,000 since they started and these levels of investment are likely to grow as they expand

Another interesting business also in Hackney is Emotech which was started in 2014. They have developed ‘Olly’ which is described as the “First Robot with Personality” (Source: heyolly). Olly is your friendly assistant that will adopt and change to become more of a companion. Olly is only three years old but has already won many awards (including 3 CES awards) and is being described as “the most likeable personal assistant around”. The video below will give you a flavour of Olly. Olly is due for release in 2018 and I predict there will be a queue.

Turning to Wandsworth, a business called Q-bot has developed robotic tools that are designed to access, survey, evaluate and complete tasks in a wide range of industries and applications. Q-bot’s robotic tools can access places to carry out task that would be impossible for humans to complete without causing a lot of disruption, for example the installation of underfloor insulation in Victorian and early-20th century housing.

Q-Bot is at the forefront of robotics, sustainability and the built environment and counts Camden Council, Cardiff Council, CityWest Homes and Peabody among its first customers. The company has been identified as one of the seven innovation wonders of the construction world and has been highlighted as ‘one to watch’ by the UK Government, Guardian and the Financial Times.

The most recent news from Q-bot was success in raising investment of £1.5m to enable it to “secure the rollout of its robotic insulation service” (Source: Q-bot)

In Camden a business called Woogie, which make learning exciting for kids, has created “An Adorable AI alien that teaches kids" (Source: Woogie). Woogie's founder wanted to build a really cool product for his daughter, her youngest brother and all the kids that found learning boring (Source: Woogie)

Woogie was only formed in September 2016 but is developing fast. The video below will show you what Woogie can do.

The above examples show that tech businesses don’t have to be big to raise funding. A good idea can be developed and will attract investment if it has market appeal and it seems UK companies have plenty of ideas.

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About the author

Linda Eziquiel

Hi, I'm an R&D tax credit claims specialist, helping companies save thousands of pounds by reducing their corporation tax payments, or if they are loss making helping them get tax credit cash payments.